Paw Print
by White Dragon X
Summary: First OneShot! Plz check out my other story too. Ever wanted revenge against Arrille because he's so tight with his money in the beginning of the game? Maybe this will make you feel better.


"Come on Arrille

YaY!! A OneShot!! Personally, I think oneshots are easier than stories with chapters because you can write it and not worry about what to add to it later. Also I took some artistic liberties in the writing of this so if I reference something that doesn't sound like anything you've come across in the game assume it probably isn't even there. Especially the ring!!

Of course if someone spots any error in my grammar please shoot me a review and tell me where it is. My biggest pet peeve is when I make a silly mistake like spelling a word wrong or I phrase something funky and nobody understands what I'm trying to say.

Read and Review!!

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"Come on Arrille! It's worth more than that!" a disgruntled dark elf male yelled angrily.

"Take it or leave it," Arrille said placidly as he pushed the small stack of coins toward his customer. The dark elf bared his teeth with hatred and distaste but took the coins and passed the Limeware Platter across the counter.

"Thank you and come again," Arrille said automatically as his customer left the store in disgust.

The man stomped off through the swamp, slashing at mudcrabs he imagined looking at him funny when his back was turned.

"Stupid high elf," he mumbled through grit teeth, "Anybody in Solsteim would have paid me twice what he just gave me."

The dark elf continued to storm through the swamp grass and sludge, swatting at mosquitoes as he went until he stopped before a large tree. The tree stood taller than any of its neighbors and instead of swamp moss hanging lifelessly from its branches like all the others in the swamp, green leaves shaded the area around its base. The man tossed his sack of supplies to the ground and sat sulking under the tree's shady branches

"I'll make him pay," he whispered to himself. "I'll make him regret ever undercutting me." He fingered a peculiar ring between his fingers. It looked like a band woven of golden vines and leaves that knotted together and were frozen to make something so bizarre, it might make normal men go mad. Of course men that were already mad would have incredible magnetism to the ring and the truly most insane of these would ever dream of actually using it. But that's just what the lone figure did beneath the boughs of the Life Tree. He slipped the ring onto his finger just as the sun dipped below the horizon.

The two miles he had traveled between Seyda Neen and his resting place melted away in a blur as he stole through the night. Arrille's Trade House loomed before him just as his stomach started to rumble. Everyone had retired for the night and the town's center was empty except for the occasional passing of a guard with a torch that any adept sneaker would see and have time to hide from.

The black shadow slunk up the steps and across the deck to the front door of the building. He tried the knob of but the door was locked. One claw snaked into the keyhole and after a moment of clicking and breathless anticipation, the door swung open.

Moonlight flooded into the store, illuminating the wood boards and the front counter with pale moonlight. A shadow passed across the light and then all was still for several heartbeats.

Soft feet padded across the wooden floorboards, passing the front counter, and leaving untouched the wooden chest beside it where the store's profits were neatly stacked. Instead, the haggard figure climbed the stairs to the bar room above the store. A muzzle peeked around the edge of the dividing wall.

Luck was with the hunter this night for all of the usual patrons; all two of them, were passed out at the counter and the barmaid had retired to her mattress behind it. Silently the creature crept through the shadows, passing under the flickering light of a candle only briefly. Illuminated beneath the light, the hunter's true form was revealed as a shaggy black wolf creature, blood red eyes burning like hot coals in the sunken recesses of its face. Just as his form was revealed, it disappeared from sight, plunging back into the shadows of the dark.

The last door barring the hunter from his prey was easily dealt with quickly and quietly. As the door swung open, the sleeping form of Arrille, tucked into his bed came to the hunter's eyes. The wolf licked its chops and crept closer to the side of the bed. He didn't gloat over his success; he just did the deed quickly with a swift bite to the throat and didn't let go until he was sure that Arrille wouldn't make a sound.

The wolf finished eating and had just skulked out the door as one of the drunken regulars decided he had to get home. As the fat man stumbled down the stairs, he noticed that the door was wide open. The man stared at the door for a full minute.

"Bloody hell," he said rubbing the back of his head with a pudgy hand. "I've been gone too long!" He stumbled out the door, worried what his wife would say and completely missing the huge bloody paw print just outside the door…


End file.
